The clock is ticking to my 5th Dan grading

It’s been nearly 5 years since my 4th Dan grading and so the time is nearly upon me to grade for 5th Dan. My fellow instructor at London Ju Jitsu, Sensei Salur Onural and I have been training for this for the last year but now we’re in the last few months it will have to be stepped up even more. Sacrifices need to be made, from a severe reduction in alcohol (in my case as Salur doesn’t drink) to turning fiancee’s/girlfriends into Ju Jitsu widows and everything in between.

If we do pass it will be another 6 years of constant training and teaching before we’ll be eligible for 6th Dan so it’s even more important to make this one as good as it can be. It’s nice to show a lot of our students who won’t have seen us grade that we actually train this hard for a grading and not just tell them too! As any teacher knows, it’s easier to lead by example but those opportunities don’t come around very often as you go up the Dan grades.

So the countdown starts now and we’re hoping for a confirmed date from our master at the end of March. My main wish at this point is to get to the grading without any major injury. When you’re training hard it’s almost inevitable that you’ll get injured. In fact last time I got 9 stitches in my leg after being stabbed with a Tanto while practicing only 8 weeks before the grading! As always I’ve realised that there isn’t enough time left. I’ll give it my best shot though so watch this space.